In the manufacture of semiconductor devices, various kinds of processing apparatuses are used to process oxidization, diffusion, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and the like with respect to target objects to be processed such as semiconductor wafers. Among such apparatuses, a vertical processing apparatus, which can process a plurality of target objects at one time, has been known.
In the processing apparatus, it is necessary to increase the number of the semiconductor wafers loaded into the apparatus (boat). For example, there has been proposed a method for holding a plurality of stacks on the boat at predetermined intervals in a vertical direction, each of the stacks having two semiconductor wafers stacked in layers with a spacer provided between them. The two semiconductor wafers face each other at their untreated bottom surfaces.
It has been required that the spacer be automatically transferred into the boat in the maintenance and so on. However, when the spacer is transferred sequentially, the spacer rotates or deviates from a transfer position due to thermal expansion, shifts in the transfer and the like. Therefore, there is a possibility that the spacer cannot be transferred. In this case, it is necessary to perform a process for taking out the spacer to the outside of the apparatus and reset the rotation of the spacer once. In this regard, there is a problem that a stoppage of the apparatuses may be needed to take out the spacer. Thus, there is a need for a transferring apparatus, a transferring method and the like that can transfer the spacer sequentially.